Classic Rock News

U2 is sharing the second installment in their recently launched digital series, U2 To Love and Only Love – Deep Dives and B-Sides.

The band plans to release 12 newly remastered collections throughout the year, made up of songs that until now were only available on vinyl, CD or cassette.

The latest collection is centered around the track “Staring at the Sun,” which has four remixes. They’ve also shared video of a 2001 live performance of the tune at Slane Castle in Dublin. The collection also includes a fifth song, a remastered version of “Your Blue Room” from the movie Beyond the Clouds, which was released by Passengers aka U2 and Brian Eno. 

To coincide with the launch, U2 has released a new limited edition “Staring at the Sun” T-shirt, which is only available to order for one week.

“Staring at the Sun” was the second single off U2’s 1997 album Pop. It peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped both the Modern Rock and Adult Alternative charts.

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Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes has paid tribute to Allman Brothers Band co-founder Dickey Betts, who passed away April 18 at the age of 80.

“Such a huge loss. Not only for our musical family, but for the world of music in general,” Haynes, who joined the Allman Brothers in 1989, shares on Instagram. “Aside from being a huge, major influence on my music from before I picked up a guitar, Dickey was the one person I credit for everything amazing that happened in my career.”

Haynes writes of listening to Allman Brothers’ Live at Filmore East as he started playing guitar. “Listening as a kid I had no idea that one day our paths would cross and that he would become a mentor to me,” he shares, calling Dickey “a presence that loomed larger than life.”

Haynes was in Dickey’s band for over two years before joining the Allman Brothers, where he says he felt challenged by up his game.

“Dickey Betts and I created a lot of great music together and what I took from him was a major contribution in my life,” he shares. “It did not take long once I joined his band to realize, standing next to him with that beautiful tone, that I had a lot to work to do on both with my tone and with my style.”

He adds, “It was amazingly intimidating to stand there night after night realizing how far I had to go. He threw me in the lake and I had to learn to swim. I am forever grateful for that ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity.”

Also paying tribute is Allman Brothers guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife and performing partner, Susan Tedeschi, who simply wrote, “One of the best to ever do it. Rest easy Dickey.”

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On This Day, April 19, 2012…

Levon Helm, best known as the drummer, singer and multi-instrumentalist for The Band, died at age 71 of throat cancer. 

As one of The Band’s three main vocalists, Helm was featured on many of their classic tracks, including “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

Along with the other members of The Band, Helm was initially a member of The Hawks, the backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. After they split with Hawkins in 1963 over creative differences, they were known briefly as Levon & The Hawks. Bob Dylan then hired the group as his backing band, but Helm, discouraged by fans’ negative reaction to Dylan’s new “electric” music, left. He returned in 1967; The Band’s debut album, Music from Big Pink, came out in 1968.

Helm remained with the The Band through their farewell performance on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976. The performance was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released as the critically acclaimed documentary The Last Waltz.

In 1983, Helm and The Band reformed without guitarist Robbie Robertson and continued to tour and record.  After singer/pianist Richard Manuel died by suicide in 1986, The Band carried on with various other musicians until bassist/vocalist Rick Danko‘s death in 1999.

Helm continued to record and play live until his death, winning multiple Grammys for his solo albums.

In addition to music, Helm dabbled in acting and appeared in movies like Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Right Stuff, Feeling Minnesota and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

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Sheryl Crow was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year and she invited Peter Frampton, the first artist she ever saw in concert, to perform with her. The inductees for the hall’s Class of 2024 will be announced during the April 21 episode of American Idol, and this year Frampton is on the ballot, which Sheryl is very happy about.

“I’m very excited. You know, he definitely is somebody that is worthy of being in the Rock Hall. I mean, all the way back to Humble Pie [the band he was in from 1969 to 1971],” Sheryl tells ABC Audio. “And there’s so many people on the ballot this year I feel like should be in.”

“I mean, I grew up listening to Foreigner,” she says, naming another group that’s up for induction this year. “Whether you love them or you don’t love them, I mean, that was the sound — them, and Boston and Kansas, they were the soundtrack to my, you know, radio years as a kid.”

Sheryl also throws her support behind one of her contemporaries, plus two of the female artists who appear on the ballot this year: Cher and the late Sinéad O’Connor.

“Certainly Lenny Kravitz,” she says. “I mean, if you’re going to look up ‘rock star’ in the dictionary, you will see a picture of him in leather pants. So, a lot of great people on [the ballot]. And yes, Cher and Sinéad.” 

In addition to the artists Sheryl mentioned, this year’s potential inductees include Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Sade, Oasis, A Tribe Called Quest, Jane’s Addiction, Kool & the Gang, Eric B. & Rakim, Ozzy Osbourne and Dave Matthews Band.

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In one of her new songs, “Clara Bow,” Taylor Swift mentions Stevie Nicks, and the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has actually penned a poem that’s included in Taylor’s new album.

The poem is titled, “For T – and me …” and it’s noted that it was written “September 13 at 8:50 p.m.”  It starts, “He was in love with her / Or at least she thought so / She was broken hearted / Maybe he was too / Neither of them knew.”

“She was way too hot to handle / He was way too high to try … she was on her way to the stars / he didn’t say goodbye,” she continues.

The middle part of the poem reads, in part, “She brings joy / She brings Shakespeare — / It’s almost a tragedy — / says she / “Don’t endanger me — (pause) / Don’t endanger me.”

Later, Stevie writes, “He really can’t answer her / He’s afraid of her / He’s hiding from her / And he knows that he’s hurting her / She tells the truth / She writes about it / She’s an informer / He’s an ex-lover / There’s nothing there for her / she’s already gone / there’s nothing that can stop her.”

The poem ends, “She was just flying / through the clouds / When he saw her / She was just making her way / to the stars / When he lost her…”

It’s not clear which of Taylor’s ex-lovers the poem is about. In her own lengthy prologue to the album, Taylor describes being involved with two men who both let her down in different ways.

Taylor and Stevie performed together in 2010 at the Grammy Awards. In June of 2023, Stevie said that she was grateful to Taylor for her song “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” which she said helped her come to terms with the death of her Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie.

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Pearl Jam‘s Dark Matter has arrived.

Dark Matter is the 12th studio effort from the grunge veterans and their first since 2020’s Gigaton. It was produced by Andrew Watt, who mostly worked in the pop world before linking up with big-name rockers including Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop and The Rolling Stones. Watt also produced front man Eddie Vedder‘s 2022 solo album, Earthling.

“In 2023, the band retreated to Shangri-La Studios in Malibu where they simply plugged in and played under the watch of producer Andrew Watt,” the Pearl Jam website reads. “Writing and recording in a burst of inspiration, Dark Matter was born in just three weeks. As a result, Dark Matter channels the shared spirit of a group of lifelong creative confidants and brothers in one room playing as if their very lives depended on it.”

“One of my goals was like, ‘Let’s make this sound like a Pearl Jam show, but in the studio,'” Watt told Rolling Stone.

The lead Dark Matter single, also its title track, hit #1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, the first Pearl Jam song to achieve that feat in over 26 years. That broke a record for the longest gap in between number ones in the history of Mainstream Rock Airplay, which launched in 1981.

“Dark Matter” the song was followed by two more advanced tracks, “Running” and “Wreckage.”

Pearl Jam will launch a North American headlining tour in support of Dark Matter May 4 in Vancouver. Along the way, they’ll play BottleRock Napa Valley in Napa, California.

Here’s the Dark Matter track list:

“Scared of Fear”
“React, Respond”
“Wreckage”
“Dark Matter”
“Won’t Tell”
“Upper Hand”
“Waiting for Stevie”
“Running”
“Something Special”
“Got to Give”
“Setting Sun”

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Gene Simmons is getting ready to return to the stage for the first time since KISS wrapped their End of The Road tour at New York’s Madison Square Garden in December.

Simmons will perform with the Gene Simmons Band at the grand opening of the Rock & Brews Restaurant and Concert Bar within the ilani Casino Resort in Ridgefield, Washington.

Simmons, who is a co-founder of Rock & Brews with his KISS bandmate Paul Stanley, tells ABC Audio fans should expect a fun show.  

“There are no rules, which is my favorite thing in life. Anything is bound to happen,” Simmons shares. “I may jump off the stage and get into the audience. We may pull some folks out of the audience. You want to sing ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’? Here’s the mic. Good luck.”

He also teases some possible treats for KISS fans, sharing, “We get a chance to play songs KISS has never played and some songs have never been recorded. So it’s a very exciting event.”

Gene Simmons Band will hit the stage at Rock & Brews on April 23 at 8 p.m., with the show free and open to the public.

This is the 24th Rock & Brews location and features a 10,000-square-foot space, with concert bar and live music stage, along with more than 1,000 square feet of LED screens playing music videos and sports. There’s also custom art celebrating the Pacific Northwest music scene, and even a guitar throne for selfies. 

Following the performance, Gene Simmons Band will play the Summer Breeze Open Air Festival in São Paulo, Brazil, on April 26. They’ll launch a European tour on July 27 in Kuopio, Finland. A complete list of dates can be found at genesimmons.com.

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Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony says it’s been a while since he’s been in touch with the band’s original front man, David Lee Roth.

In a video recently posted to YouTube of a Q&A at a Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp that took place in March, Anthony says it’s been “quite some time” since he’s spoken to Roth.

He says that the last time they talked was when there was a discussion about “a possible reunion thing,” with Anthony saying Roth and Alex Van Halen called him from manager Irving Azoff’s office “some years back” asking what he thought about doing reunion with Joe Satriani on guitar.

He says, “And that was probably the last time I talked to Dave. That was, you know, God, I don’t know, about a few years ago now.”

But it sounds like Anthony doesn’t hold any ill will toward Dave, although he does describe him as “kind of a crazy guy.” 

“It’s hard to explain Dave. We don’t have enough time,” he says. “I mean, I don’t have anything against Dave. And I’ve said this in the past to different people, whatever, that if the chance ever came up or whatever, I would definitely be willing to jam with him or whatever.”

But Anthony hasn’t given up playing Van Halen music. He’s set to join the band’s other lead singer,  Sammy Hagar, on The Best of All World Tour, where they plan to delve into the Van Halen catalog. The tour, which also features Satriani and drummer Jason Bonham, kicks off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.
 

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E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt will soon be honored by his hometown.

The New Jersey Hall of Fame and Middletown Township are partnering to name a street after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist and his brother — playwright, actor and director Billy Van Zandt — in their hometown of Middletown, New Jersey.

The dedication of Van Zandt Way is set to happen April 26 at 11 a.m. with Stevie and Billy in attendance, along with Middletown Mayor Tony Perry and special guest speaker Brian Williams, who is also a Middletown native. 

Stevie Van Zandt is currently on tour with Bruce Springsteen, with their next show happening April 21 in Columbus, Ohio. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net. 

Stevie is also the subject of a new documentary, Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, directed by Bill Teck, which will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 8.
 

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The solar eclipse may not have washed away the rain, but it did push Soundgarden‘s “Black Hole Sun” to #1 on a Billboard chart.

The Superunknown single saw an increase of 34% in streams and 166% in downloads following the April 8 celestial event. As a result, “Black Hole Sun” became the first Soundgarden song to conquer the Hot Hard Rock Songs tally, which has been around since 2020.

The eclipse also led to streaming bumps for The Beatles‘ “Here Comes the Sun,” Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s “Bad Moon Rising” and, of course, Bonnie Tyler‘s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

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